Shadow of great britain

Arthur glanced at Elder, then pulled him and Alexandre Dumas beside him out of the police station gate and walked into the coffee shop across the street.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the coffee shop, he found Darwin waiting in the corner seat.

Today, Darwin seemed to be in the same good mood. He had put on a new hat that looked like it was worth a lot, and was sitting on his seat playing with a brand new set of taxidermy tools.

Arthur pulled Elder and others into their seats. As soon as he sat firmly, he couldn't help but take out the check in his pocket and glance at it.

The bright and dazzling mark on it immediately dazzled his eyes.

It was a £1,000 deposit note from the Bank of England.

Arthur took a deep breath. This was already as much as his salary as a police inspector at Scotland Yard for ten years.

Elder proudly held his pipe in his mouth and asked: "How's it going? I just said, after finishing this big business, the reward must be not low, right? Arthur, with this 1,000 pounds, you can be considered 30 years old in London." The following young people have achieved success in primary and secondary schools.”

Arthur glanced at him, first reached for a cup of black tea, and then asked: "How much did the 'Black Thorn' sell for? Isn't Colonel Fitzroy's offer too generous?"

Elder smiled and twirled the donuts on the plate and said, "The recent economic recovery has been good, so the Black Thorn was sold for a pretty good price. After deducting depreciation and maintenance costs, there is still a surplus of nearly 5,000 pounds. "

Arthur picked up a piece of sugar cube and put it into the tea cup. He stirred it and asked: "But even if there is a surplus of 5,000 pounds, Colonel Fitzroy will only get 1,250 pounds, and the rest will be divided among the crew. Although I helped him a little in the battle that day, was it a bit too polite for him to pay me so much at once?"

He wanted to hand the check back, but Elder pressed his hand back: "Arthur, just accept it. Colonel Fitzroy will not be at ease if you don't accept it."

When Darwin heard this, he couldn't help but giggle and said, "That's right, Arthur. You may not know that in addition to indentured slaves, the Black Thorn also contains a lot of gold coins and contraband."

"Contraband? What contraband?" Elder seemed to have lost his memory. He blushed and scolded Darwin: "Charles, I'm warning you, don't talk nonsense here! Are bundles of banknotes just a blockage?" Don’t want to talk to you?”

When Arthur heard this, he was no longer polite to him.

He asked directly: "How much did you and Charles take?"

When Elder heard this, he just smiled and held out two fingers: "We can't compare with you. We are already satisfied with this number. Thanks to you, Charles and I are both rewarded with trophies distributed according to officer standards. .”

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little envious: "Oh, why is there nothing assigned to me?"

Elder glanced at the fat man and criticized mercilessly: "Come on, you've already saved your life, and you're still not satisfied? If it was according to Fred's plan, you should have been classified as a commodity. Sold to Saint-Domingue in the West Indies, cheap labor for 20 pounds a piece."

Arthur thought Elder's words would ignite Alexandre Dumas' violent temper, but who knew that the fat Frenchman sighed in self-deprecation.

"Maybe there's nothing wrong with going to Santo Domingo. After all, my ancestors made their fortune there."

Elder frowned when he heard this and said, "Your ancestor was a slave plantation owner in West India?"

Alexandre Dumas poured a cup of tea and said, "No, my ancestors were black slaves who worked in the manor."

"Nigger?!"

When Elder heard this, his jaw almost dropped.

He looked Dumas up and down and asked strangely: "Brother, are you kidding me? You are not evil either!"

Darwin, on the other hand, had already begun to look at Alexandre Dumas's appearance and physique and fell into deep thought.

As for Arthur, although he was equally surprised, after a moment, he looked at Alexandre Dumas's hairstyle with some understanding: "No wonder you have curly hair. I said that no matter how much the French pursue fashion, they still don't care. I can’t put so much effort into getting such a troublesome perm.”

Alexandre Dumas took a sip of tea and said: "I thought you already knew my origin. After all, my surname is here, Dumas, this is not a normal French surname."

Elder waved his hands and laughed: "What's weird about this? Last time I met a Frenchman, he even said his surname was God!"

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas glared at Elder and stood up: "Sir, I am talking to you seriously!"

Elder took a look at Alexandre Dumas's strong physique, smacked his mouth twice, and then obediently picked up the tea cup: "You continue."

Only then did Alexandre Dumas calm down. He sat back on his chair and said, "My grandmother was a black slave who was sold to a plantation in West India. Her name was Marie Césette Dumas. She was also killed by my grandfather. It was the owner of the manor who raped me and gave birth to my father. Speaking of which, my bastard grandfather is still somewhat famous. Do you know the Payetrie family in France?"

Arthur thought about it carefully and nodded: "I have an impression. I seem to have seen this surname somewhere. It seems to come from Normandy."

Alexandre Dumas nodded in surprise: "I really underestimated you before. Yes, my grandfather is from Normandy, the Marquis Payetrie of Normandy. He once served as an artillery colonel and general quartermaster in France. It's just that. Later, due to extravagant spending, he went bankrupt in France, so he had to go to Saint-Domingue to run a plantation.

It was there that he bought my grandmother, raped her and gave birth to my father, Thomas Alexander de la Payetri.

Later, one of my grandfather's relatives in France died, and he sold my grandmother and father in order to raise money for his return trip. But fortunately, he still had some conscience, or maybe it was because he was too old to have children, so after inheriting the property from his relatives, he went to redeem my father within two years.

Since then, he has cultivated my father as his heir, but you know, after suffering such great harm in childhood, it was impossible for my father to forgive that old bastard. Therefore, when my father came of age, the conflict between him and my grandfather also intensified because of his newly married stepmother.

My father resolutely prepared to join the army. He changed his surname from Payetri to his grandmother's Dumas, and then joined Napoleon's army.

With his fighting spirit and indomitable courage, he rose to the position of commander of the French Alpine Legion. He beat the Austrians to the point where they called him the ‘Black Devil’. My father also followed Napoleon to conquer Cairo, and he accomplished many feats and honors. But later..."

Having said this, Alexandre Dumas seemed a little unhappy: "I still don't understand why Napoleon alienated my father. Maybe it's because he has different opinions with Napoleon, or maybe it's because of my father's unique surname?

I don’t understand it, but I feel that given my father’s bravery and proficiency in fighting, he should not have been imprisoned. I also don’t understand why Napoleon refused to pay my father’s pension or even see him.

For his contribution to France, my father deserved a decent life, or at least a decent burial.

Instead of dying in poverty on a small bed at home, the only burial object was a cane that he often used. Even the golden handle of the cane was asked by him to take off and leave it to his family, because he felt that the property he left to his family was real. It's too little. "

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but cursed: "Napoleon is really nothing! I know what good things can a French dwarf do?"

Alexandre Dumas waved his hands when he heard this: "Napoleon is Napoleon, and France is France. He is a good man, but he is not worthy of being the emperor of France. No one is worthy of being the emperor of France. I only understand it from Napoleon. No matter how good a person is, if you put him in that position, he will always become tyrannical and ruthless. Because of this, I am a staunch republican.

People like Napoleon began to become arbitrary after becoming emperor. Who was Louis Philippe? He was worthy of sitting on the throne of France? I just couldn't stand this, so I was persecuted by him and had to flee France. "

Darwin heard this and asked thoughtfully: "So, you have escaped this disaster, but I'm afraid you can't feel at ease for the time being. Judging from your description, the French government may not murder you again."

"Conspiracy?" Elder's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Does this mean that it is possible that he can do it again? Then I have to urge Colonel Fitzroy to find someone to kill the Beagle. Fix it.”

Arthur glanced at Elder and took a sip of tea: "No matter how stupid the French are, they can't repeat their old tricks. If Louis-Philippe and Mr. Dumas really have such a hatred, he will probably send a killer directly next time. Just drop him.

Since he wanted to capture Mr. Dumas alive this time, he simply intended to use him to establish his authority over the ultra-republican elements in the country. The first time was unsuccessful. If we insist on doing it a second time, this is no longer an ordinary diplomatic provocation.

Moreover, Sir Peel informed me that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered the ambassador to France to lodge stern representations and protests with the French government. As for the reaction of the new French government, that is not something we can consider. "

After hearing this, Elder couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. He waved his hands and said: "It's all his damn fault General Codrington! It's OK to have trouble with the Ottomans, but why should he have trouble with money? If he leaves that pirate ship to us , it is estimated that we can get another seventy or eighty pounds in loot rewards."

When Elder said this, he suddenly changed the topic: "By the way! Arthur, you have so much money now, have you considered doing some investment business?"

Arthur was holding the tea cup. He saw Elder's smiling face and subconsciously covered his pocket with his other hand: "What? You want to make me rich?"

Elder said carelessly: "How can I have that ability? I mean, why don't you just consider buying a house? The house can be bought in London or in your hometown of Yorkshire.

The advantage of buying a house in London is that in addition to living in it, you can easily rent out the vacant rooms.

If you want to buy it in your hometown, you have to buy a bigger one, or you can just buy some land. In this way, during the election period, someone will come to you and beg you to sell your votes, which is also a huge amount of income. "

When Arthur heard this, he thought about it and felt that what Elder said seemed to make sense.

Not to mention buying a house or renting it out, the Ministry of the Interior is now giving him the task of monitoring and protecting Alexandre Dumas 24 hours a day, but how easy is it to achieve this?

He could find some police officers to accompany Alexandre Dumas around during the day, but he couldn't send a few more people to guard Alexandre Dumas's room at night, right?

Even if Dumas agrees, the landlord and other tenants may not agree.

He took out the check for one thousand pounds from the Bank of England and looked at it, and then took out the five hundred pound bank draft from the Rothschild Bank that he had kept in his arms for several days.

He looked up at Elder and asked: "What kind of house do you think fifteen hundred pounds can buy?"